The video of the event "Building a New Eco-social Contract and Advancing Social Security in Times of Debt and Austerity" is now online. The event took place on Friday, October 13, 2023 during the Civil Society Policy Forum of the WBG-IMF Annual Meetings 2023 held in Marrakech, Morocco.
Recent research analyzing IMF programs show that, far from “mitigating” austerity measures, IMF policies and social spending floors fail to address negative social impacts. The panel explored how the World Bank and IMF could build a human rights-based economy with better developmental outcomes.
The event was moderated by Shahir Ishak (Senior Social Protection Specialist, Inclusive Social Security Policy Forum).
And the speakers were Sarah Saadoun (Senior Researcher, Human Rights Watch), Allana Kembabazi (Program Manager, Initiative for Social and Economic Rights), Isabel Ortiz (Director of the Global Social Justice, Initiative for Policy Dialogue) and Rodrigo Cerda (Division Chief, IMF), the World Bank Group (WBG) declined the invitation to participate in the event.
The event was organized by Act church of Sweden, ActionAid international, AWC, ANND, Amnesty International, CESR, End Austerity Campaign, FTC, Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors (GCSPF), Global Social Justice/Initiative for Policy Dialogue (IPD), HRW, ISSPF, ISER, ITUC, Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation, Oxfam International, BWP, WIEGO, ARI and MenaFem.
Further information on this event is available here. Further information about the Right to Social Security Campaing is available here.
The International Symposium on Improving Synergies between Social Protection and Public Finance Management, convened by the ILO, UNICEF, the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors (GCSPF) and the European Union, brought together policymakers, social partners, civil society, and development partners to discuss the innovative practices and strategies for building sustainable and rights-based social protection systems resulting from the Social Protection & Public Finance Management Programme (SP&PFM).
Many members of the GCSPF participated in the Symposium online, whereas Uzziel Twagilimana (WSM) and Beatrice Di Padua (ITUC) attended physically. As representatives of the GCSPF, Uzziel Twagilimana moderated the Opening and Panel 1: “Extending social protection to all” and Beatrice di Padua spoke at Panel 5: “Joining forces for universal and sustainable social protection and closing remarks”. The video of her intervention is online here.
Launched in 2019, the EU-funded Programme on 'Improving synergies between social protection and public finance management' (SP&PFM Programme) supports 24 countries in achieving gender-responsive, disability-inclusive, and shock-responsive social protection. It also contributes to strengthening the sustainability of social protection financing through advocacy and technical work for increased fiscal space and improved public finance management.
The international symposium reviewed achievements, exchanged country experiences and innovations, and highlighted key research findings. It also looked ahead to how countries can maintain their momentum towards realizing universal social protection.
Information about the “International Symposium on Improving Synergies between Social Protection and Public Finance Management” is available here. The International Symposium was held in Geneva on 27 - 28 June, 2023.
The video of the session “IMF's strategy on social spending facing austerity: new direction or bandaid?” is now online. The session was held on Wednesday, April 12th, 2023.
Civil society welcomed the IMF's new policy on social spending in 2019. However, we are concerned that spending on social protection, health and education is still not given sufficient priority in government budgets. Indeed, we fear conditionality in IMF country programs will continue to negatively impact essential social spending. How should IMF and other international agencies, labor movements and CSOs each work to enhance and protect national social spending programs? And, how might international cooperation be strengthened to assure more adequate, efficient, universal and sustainably financed social protection and social services in all countries.
Moderator: Alex Cambpell, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)
Panelists:
The event took place at the Civil Society Policy Forum (CSPF) during the 2023 International Monetary Fund - World Bank Group Spring Meetings that was held from April 11 to April 14, 2023 in Washington DC. The video and further information are available here.
The event was co-organized by the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors (GCSPF), Bretton Woods Project, Human Rights Watch, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation, NGO Committee on Financing for Development, Oxfam International, Social Justice in Global Development, Social Policy Initiative (South Africa).
This event was dedicated to the memory of Prof. Michael Cichon. Michael was the inspiration behind and driver of Recommendation 202, founder of the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors (GCSPF) and he has been an inspiring example to so many people around the world.
The hybrid session “IMF's strategy on social spending facing austerity: new direction or bandaid?” will be held on Wednesday, April 12th, 2023, from 2:30 pm to 4:00 pm EDT in the IMF HQ2-03B-768B meeting room.
Simultaneous interpretation will be available to Spanish, French, and Arabic for those participating online. Registration is not needed for those that will be joining sessions on zoom. Here is the link for the session:
https://imf.zoom.us/j/98300942112?pwd=NlZQLzVvdU5pbGVjeGdyZThvWFZxZz09
To check your local time zone, please click here.
The session will be broadcast on the IMF website: www.imf.org/cso.
This event will be dedicated to the memory of Prof. Michael Cichon. Michael was the inspiration behind and driver of Recommendation 202, founder of the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors (GCSPF) and he has been an inspiring example to so many people around the world.
Civil society welcomed the IMF's new policy on social spending in 2019. However, we are concerned that spending on social protection, health and education is still not given sufficient priority in government budgets. Indeed, we fear conditionality in IMF country programs will continue to negatively impact essential social spending. How should IMF and other international agencies, labor movements and CSOs each work to enhance and protect national social spending programs? And, how might international cooperation be strengthened to assure more adequate, efficient, universal and sustainably financed social protection and social services in all countries.
The event will take place during the 2023 Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group and the IMF and the Civil Society Policy Forum that will be held from April 10 to April 16, 2023 in Washington DC.
The event is co-organized by the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors (GCSPF), Bretton Woods Project, Human Rights Watch, International Trade Union Confederation, Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation, NGO Committee on Financing for Development, Oxfam International, Social Justice in Global Development, Social Policy Initiative (South Africa).
Moderator: Alex Cambpell, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)
Panelists
Rodrigo Cerda, Division Chief, Expenditure Policy Division, Fiscal Affairs Department, International Monetary Fund (IMF)
Shahra Razavi, Director, Social Protection Department, International Labour Organization (ILO)
Alexander Kentikelenis, Oxfam International
Ahilan Kadirgamar, Senior Lecturer, Department of Sociology, University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka
The side event “Progress through Social Protection - Current initiatives and financing at national and international level” took place on Monday, March 6th 2023 during the Civil Society Forum of the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5) that was held in Doha, Qatar.
Speakers at the event were Massimiliano La Marca (Senior Economist, International Labour Office - ILO), Elibariki Msengi (Christian Council of Tanzania), Martha Bekele (Development Initiatives, Ethiopia) and Ana Zeballos (GCSPF).
Ana Zeballos presented the work of the GCSPF. Massimiliano La Marca talked about the work of the ILO in the LDCs, particularly in the framework of the SDGs. Martha Bekele did a presentation focused on domestic and international financing, the Global Fund for Social Protection embedded in the Global Accelerator for Jobs and Social Protection. Martha also presented the new discussion paper Should Global Public Investment finance social protection? And finally, Elibariki Msengi shared with the participants the expansion of health insurance in Tanzania. The presentations were followed by a lively discussion about the situation in the different countries.
Read the programme and the invitation.
This event was co-organised by the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors (GCSPF), Africa Platform for Social Protection (APSP), Development Initiatives, Christian Council of Tanzania, Act Church of Sweden and Brot für die Welt.
The side event "Progress through Social Protection - Current initiatives and financing at national and international level" will take place on Monday, March 6th from 5 to 6:30 pm at Civil Society Forum of the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5).
Moderator: Martha Bekele, Development Initiatives
Speakers:
Social Protection: An investment we cannot afford not to make
Massimiliano La Marca, Senior Economist ILO
Tanzania – expansion of health insurance
Elibariki Msengi, Christian Council of Tanzania
Domestic and international financing: Global Fund for Social Protection embedded in the Global Accelerator for Jobs and Social Protection
Priscilla Gavi, GCSPF and Chair of the Africa Platform for Social Protection (APSP)
National and International Perspectives on Universal Social Protection
This side event offers civil society perspectives on national initiatives to social protection – exemplified by social health protection systems in Tanzania and Rwanda. In addition, recent international funding initiatives will be presented and discussed. A particular focus will be on the proposal for a “Global Fund for Social Protection” whose establishment is called for by both the UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights and by the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors. This Fund could become an important complement to the “Global Accelerator for Jobs and Social Protection for a Just Transition” which has been initiated by the UN Secretary General.
Background
National Floors of Social Protection – i.e., the provision of access to basic health care and a minimum level of income security – is the first step towards fulfilling the human right to social security. This human right is recognized in numerous international human rights treaties and recently highlighted once again by the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Citizens to Social Protection and Social Security. However, social protection floors are not only based in human rights, they are also one of the core goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Evidence shows that it is an indispensable instrument in the fight against poverty (SDG 1) – and in this respect at the same time the basis for adequate health, food security and housing, especially for the most vulnerable population groups. Moreover, social protection systems serve to promote social cohesion and to provide a basis for more gender equality. Last but not least, they also make an important contribution to increase domestic demand and thus contribute to economic stabilization and resilience.
Still, most people in the world do not have access to social protection, especially in Least Developed Countries. For some countries it is very difficult – not to say impossible – to raise the necessary funds entirely from their own resources. Therefore, there have been calls for international financing mechanisms to provide the required initial funding for the establishment of cash transfer and other social protection programs.
The importance of universal social protection systems is emphasized throughout the Doha Programme for Action, including two important targets:
- Achieve a sustainable increase in coverage of nationally appropriate comprehensive and universal social protection systems and measures, including floors, for all in the least developed countries. (Para 38.)
- Ensure adequate domestic and international support to strengthen inclusive social protection systems in the least developed countries, to address current poverty and vulnerability and future shocks. (Para 202.)
This event is co-organised by the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors (GCSPF), Africa Platform for Social Protection (APSP), Development Initiatives, Christian Council of Tanzania, Act Church of Sweden, Brot für die Welt.
Download the concept note (pdf version).
The video of the side event: On the Road to 2025: A New Social Contract with Universal Social Protection and Full Employment and Decent Work for all is now online. The event took place on Wednesday, February 8, 2023, during the 61st Session of the Commission for Social Development CSocD61.
The event was dedicated to the memory of Prof. Michael Cichon. Michael was the inspiration behind and driver of Recommendation 202, founder of the GCSPF and he has been an inspiring example to so many people around the world.
Moderator: Eppu Mikkonen, Finnish Development NGOs Fingo
Session 1: Welcome and overview of the topic
• Ms. Hanna Sarkkinen, Minister of Social Affairs and Health of Finland - The road to the Social Summit 2025, the urgency of a “renewed” social contract to ensure full implementation of the right to social protection. Download the speech.
• Dr. Veronika Wodsak, ILO/USP2030 - Priority Theme - decent work, SPF; evidence of SP impact. Download the presentation.
• Priscilla Gavi, Africa Platform for Social Protection (APSP) – Charting progress on the right of all Citizens of Africa to Social Protection. Download the presentation.
Session 2: Action for Change: collaboration between civil society and the United Nations
• Laura Alfers, Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO) - Ensuring the informal sector have the right to social protection. Download the presentation.
• Dr. Abiola Tilley-Gyado, Board Chair, Society for Family and Social Protection in Nigeria, board member of Nigeria Network of NGOs/GCAP Nigeria; Experience and call for action of those who are Left Behind. Download the presentation.
• Paul Divakar, GCAP Global Co-Chair
• Nicola Wiebe, Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors; Financing gaps and role of the Global Fund. Download the presentation.
The side event was organized by the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors (GCSPF), and co-organized by Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP), Gray Panthers, African Platform for Social Protection (APSP), Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd.
The Concept Note is here and the invitation is here.
Read the position paper of the GCSPF at the CSocD61.
The Priority Theme of the 61st Session of the United Nations Commission for Social Development (CSocD61) was ‘Creating full and productive employment and decent work for all as a way of overcoming inequalities to accelerate the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.’ The CSocD took place from 6 to 15 February 2023 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
Date: Wednesday, February 8, 2023
Time: 1:15 pm – 3:00 pm EST (Confirm your local time here)
Please register at: http://bit.ly/3D3Dek7
The side event will be in English. French and Spanish interpretation will be provided.
Organized by the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors (GCSPF). Co-organized by Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP), Gray Panthers, African Platform for Social Protection (APSP), Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd
Concept Note
The Virtual Side Event: On the Road to 2025: A New Social Contract with Universal Social Protection and Full Employment and Decent Work for all will take place during the 61st Session of the Commission for Social Development CSocD61.
Social protection is a human right and an investment with high social and economic returns – yet more than half the world’s population do not have access to comprehensive social protection. Coverage remains particularly low for marginalized children, people with disabilities, older people, widows, women, people working in the informal economy, migrants, and the LGBTQI community.
COVID-19 has highlighted inequalities and served as a stress test for access to social protection, basic human rights, income, health security, and such essential goods as housing and food. People living in poverty have been particularly vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Many countries have realized both the necessity and the long-term benefits of universal, comprehensive, and adequate social protection for all, based on sustainable and equitable financing, robust, adapted, and tripartite administration anchored in law. The necessity for guaranteeing, financing and delivering social protection to all, including the hardest to reach may require, notably in low-income countries, the technical and financial support of a Global Fund for Social Protection.
To respond to the recovery of the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries have put in place some social protection responses to support workers, children, and families1. However, these are, for the most part, ad hoc measures of short duration, and need to be transformed into sustainable social protection.
Creating full and productive employment and decent work for all is integral to an ethical and moral vision. However, the informality of work appears to be growing worldwide and becoming the new normal, with over sixty percent of the global workforce supporting themselves in this way- hoping to meet their basic daily needs without health coverage, social insurance, or access to maternity or sick leave. In Africa, this figure can be as high as eighty percent. Further, these informal workers do not have voice and representation for their interests and are often prohibited from unionizing.
While this has been the norm in emerging economies, today the trend is on the rise in more developed and globalized economies, in the form of deregulation, outsourcing, and flex and temp work. All of this erodes the dignity of the person and violates human rights and opportunities for decent work conditions. The globalized nature of finance, investment and business ventures is facilitating this erosion with exploitative practices against people and the planet itself2.
It is more important than ever to make connections between social protection and the ongoing crisis, strengthen and scale up social protection systems and for that a renewed social contract is needed to ensure an inclusive and sustainable recovery for all.
The Global Coalition of Social Protection Floors (GCSPF) invites you to a 105-minute side event with speakers from Governments, United Nations, and civil society.
We will tackle the diverse and interconnecting perspectives on social protection and the urgency of a “renewed” social contract anchored in human rights for a new era and consider why the Global Fund for Social Protection is necessary to deliver to all the right to social protection.
Insights and conclusions will be inputted into the ongoing work of the Commission for Social Development and the discussions about the Global Fund for Social Protection.
Read here the position paper of the GCSPF at the the 61st Session of the Commission on Social Development: ‘Creating full and productive employment and decent work for all as a way of overcoming inequalities to accelerate the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.’
Details of the virtual side event
Date: Wednesday, February 8, 2023
Time: 1:15 pm – 3:00 pm EST (Confirm your local time here)
Please register at: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEqf-qtrT8iGtekNIJL1OnNxMmYOcuopcwA
The side event will be in English. French and Spanish interpretation will be provided.
Moderator: Dr. Paul Ladd, Executive Director UNRISD
Session 1: Welcome and overview of the topic
• Ms. Hanna Sarkkinen, Minister of Social Affairs and Health of Finland - The road to the Social Summit 2025, the urgency of a “renewed” social contract to ensure full implementation of the right to social protection.
• Dr. Veronika Wodsak, ILO/USP2030 - Priority Theme - decent work, SPF; evidence of SP impact
• Priscilla Gavi, Africa Platform for Social Protection (APSP) – Charting progress on the right of all Citizens of Africa to Social Protection.
Session 2: Action for Change: collaboration between civil society and the United Nations
• Laura Alfers, Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO) - Ensuring the informal sector have the right to social protection.
• Dr. Abiola Tilley-Gyado, Board Chair, Society for Family and Social Protection in Nigeria, board member of Nigeria Network of NGOs/GCAP Nigeria; Experience and call for action of those who are Left Behind
• Nicola Wiebe, Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors; Financing gaps and role of the Global Fund
Conclusions and Recommendations
• Dr. Paul Ladd, Executive Director UNRISD
Notes:
1 http://www.socialprotectionfloorscoalition.org/2020/12/the-global-coalition-for-social-protection-floors-the-ilo-and-unicef-join-forces-to-expand-social-protection-for-all-through-sustainable-financing/#_edn7
2 Statement submitted by Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd to the Commission for Social Development Sixty-First Session 6-15 February 2023.
The video of the virtual side event “Decade of Action to achieve Universal Social Protection by 2030” is now online. The side event on the Theme Austerity & Social Protection was co-hosted by the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors (GCSPF) and the Africa Platform for Social Protection (APSP) and it was held during the Global People's Assembly on 22 September, 2021.
 |
Panel participants
Read more: the concept note, the speakers bios, the invitation, Global People's Assembly.
Declaration
The Declaration of the Global People's Assembly 2021 “The COVID-19 Wake Up Call: We The People Resist Being Left Behind” is available here.
The chapter on Social Protection is below.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the decrepit state of existing social protection systems. Decades of broken promises, policies that prioritise profits over people and planet, and austerity programmes have gutted social protection, emergency safety nets and essential public services.
While emergency programmes provide relief in times of crisis, they are stopgap measures. The international community and national governments must create a comprehensive, social protection system if the Sustainable Development Goals are to be achieved and bring the ideas of “Leave No One Behind” and “A Life of Dignity for All” to life.
Social protection systems are a proven, direct and fast-acting mechanism to end poverty and reduce inequalities. They unleash individual creativity and capacities, provide resilience in the face of ‘natural’ calamities, pandemics and economic crises, and are an investment in the long-term economic and social growth of countries and communities. Social protection is a universal public good and a human right!
Our Demands
Create and ensure a Universal Social Protection Floor for all, which ensures:
To realise a Universal Social Protection Floor, the international community must:
While international funding and technical support is important, it does not replace the responsibility of national and local governments to establish and finance rights-based, national social protection floors.
Governments must:
The Gender Dimension: The pandemic has made it clearer than ever that developing and resourcing gender-responsive social protection systems is central to combating poverty among women and girls. Social protection systems must cover informal sector workers, including those in unpaid care work. Social protection health schemes must include and cover services specific to the needs of women and girls, in all their diversity, including sexual and reproductive health (SRH), maternal and infant health services, sexual and gender- based violence services and safe abortion care.
Age: Social protection is essential to reduce vulnerabilities in old age. In many countries, older women are more likely to be impoverished than men, a result of lower wages, unpaid care work and longer life expectancy . . . Youth must be provided opportunities to be partners, as well as beneficiaries, in the development of policies and processes that affect their lives.
Marginalisation: Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent face intergenerational discrimination, exclusion from public resources and entitlements, and are routinely segregated despite constitutional and legal protective measures. Individuals from these communities are disproportionately affected by hunger, food insecurity and poverty. Cultural practices, child slavery and trafficking deny millions their right to quality education. Marginalised communities, including persons with disabilities, must be represented in local governments to ensure that their voices are heard and right to social protection realised.
Global People's Assembly, 21 - 23 September 2021
Co-hosted by the following partners:
Action for Sustainable Development (A4SD), Africa Platform for Social Protection (APSD), Asia Civil Society Partnership on Sustainable Development (APSD), Asia Dalits Rights Forum, Asia Development Alliance (ADA), Bread for the World, Germany, Bridging Ventures, CBM, CIVICUS, Coalition for the UN We Need (C4UNWN), CSO Partnership for Development Effectiveness (CPDE), Democracy Without Borders, EURODAD, No Profit on Pandemic, FORUS, Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors (GCSPF), GESTOS, Global Forum of Communities of DWD (GFoD), Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP), Global Policy Forum, Gray Panthers, Latindadd, My World Mexico, Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), SDG Watch Europe, Women Engaged for a Common Future (WECF), Women’s Major Group , TAP Network, Trust Africa.
The virtual side event “Decade of Action to achieve Universal Social Protection by 2030” took place on 12 July 2021 during the High-level Political Forum 2021.
The virtual side event was co-organized by the Permanent Mission of Argentina to the United Nations; Ministry of National Development Planning, Indonesia; Global Partnership for Universal Social Protection - USP2030; Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors; Global Call to Action Against Poverty; International Labour Organization; The World Bank; International Network for Social Protection Rights (INSP!R West-Africa); United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD); Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung; Protestant Agency for Diakonie und Development; Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd; Centro de Implementación de Políticas Públicas para la Equidad y el Crecimiento (CIPPEC).
Read more: the concept note, the invitation, the speakers bios, further information.
AGENDA
Moderator: Dr. Katja Hujo, Senior Research Coordinator, Transformative Social Policy Programme, UNRISD
Session 1: The Contribution of Universal Social Protection to Agenda 2030
Session 2: Partnership for Joint Action
Over 200 civil society organizations and trade unions unite to call for a Global Fund for Social Protection to protect the most vulnerable during COVID-19 and beyond.
The programme Improving Synergies Between Social Protection and Public Finance Management provides medium-term support to multiple countries aiming to strengthen their social protection systems at a national level and ensure sustainable financing. The programme aims to support countries in their efforts towards achieving universal social protection coverage.
